This chapter deals with that important set of events that takes place just after a human arrives in heaven and is greeted by many individuals and ends, for most spirits, when they arrive in their ultimate spirit family grouping. It also describes the particular circumstances associated with suicides, creation of "ghosts", individuals who commit evil acts on earth, and those who believe that they will experience nothingness or, alternatively, "hell".

To begin this transformation journey from human to soul-spirit to spirit--as we have said before, regardless of what the individual has done on earth, as soon as they leave their human life, all individuals are met by angels and spirit guides, pass through a tunnel, and they are greeted by loved ones on the other side so that the death experience initially is never frightening to anybody. And you are often received on the other side with various degrees of love and warmth and light from those who are there to greet you and welcome you back to your spirit self.

One making the transition is always greeted with love and a sense of safety and a sense of protection, a sense of freedom and always in a light so bright and so warm and so encompassing as they have never experienced before in human form. As a spirit soul progresses into its new life form, it will progress into various shades, tones, colors of this bright light. It is reassuring and always it is very powerful to one crossing over. Once you have moved into your soul spirit you of course still have earth connections and you go through your most current life review. This is a standard procedure for anyone regardless of what their life was like upon earth.

Again, the varying degrees of light and warmth and release from life experiences depend much upon the consciousness one has as they have made this transformation from earth to soul spirit. After one has had their greeting and their life review what then becomes heaven then becomes much of the spiritual consciousness that the individual brought with them from earth during this most recent past life on earth. Once a new spirit moves through the different phases of releasing from its earthbound life it begins to gradually move into the spiritual consciousness that it has obtained and finds that it is losing earthbound forms and earthbound dimensions and begins to experience things telepathically and through various forms of energy rather than through three dimensions as it has experienced on earth.

There are those spirit souls who are so evolved that they do not find it necessary to remain connected to those on earth for they know that there are other angels and spirit guides with those who have remained on earth and they are ready to move into their more highly evolved true self. This is not a selfish or uncaring act. It is just a spirit soul that does not need to feel a continuation of an earth connection and knows that the loved ones left behind are being left with a sense of love and energy from angels and spirit guides.

What is the first sight a soul may experience on arrival in heaven and what accounts for possible differences?

We have before talked about the different--we do not like using the word levels or stages--but on earth that is how you can best envision what we talk about. So there are many different phases that a spirit goes through before becoming its final spirit energy form. Those that are crossing over are initially met by family and loved ones. Oftentimes even before they have been declared dead on earth, but it is imminent, they will find that they have spirits there with them to help with the shock of changes in the energy vibrations they will be moving from. You have a total sense of release when you leave your body and begin your crossing over journey. This journey again takes many different forms because, though you are now spirit and you are out of your body again, we say you are still bound to earth for a period of time and it would be too much of a shock even to your spirit to move into its final form of energy. So you have loved ones to meet you who are vibrating at a much higher energy than what you are at your initial crossing . You will be in many different colors and degrees of light. But you are cushioned by all the love you are greeted with.

Are there surroundings that are earthlike?

When you have finally made that cross over from earth and are in "heaven", you are allowed to experience heaven as you would like to think of heaven being and that has to do with many different conscious levels. Initially your heaven experience is still an experience of something that you connected with when you were on earth. You eventually move beyond that sense of earth pleasures and begin to move within your own spiritual consciousness and spiritual place.

What is the role of the spirit guide in the arrival of the soul in heaven?

Your spirit guide is such as an overseer of bringing together all your loved ones because many of the people that you have been in contact with on earth are at various levels of spiritual consciousness. Spirit guide is able to bring these different spiritual consciousnesses together to help greet you, to help welcome you and bring you over. Spirit guide is there to continue their direction and guidance and helping you as you make this change from earth to the other side.

And of course you make your presence known to the arriving soul as a visual entity or as something that can be seen and experienced ?

We make our presence known in many different ways depending upon the spiritual consciousness of the individual. If you will notice we have said throughout this questioning time--we have often referred to an individual spiritual consciousness and that is because that is what so much affects how one experiences their crossing over.

What is the emotional state of the arriving spirit in heaven? How do they feel?

Again that has to do with their spiritual consciousness. Initially they still have much, as we have said, earthbound energies and connections and can bring forth some of that with them. And it takes the assistance of your spirit guide and your loved ones to help you understand your new form. Though you do not carry pain with you, and when you cross over, you do not take the anger and bitterness with you, you will oftentimes be quite confused as to your new experience because, though it is nothing like what you experienced on earth, you are still able to realize that you are continuing on. Oftentimes in mass and sudden deaths the new spirits are confused

What knowledge do we take with us after death to the afterlife?

You take all of your knowledge with you--everything you have learned through books, everything you have learned through your experiences, everything you have learned through your emotions, for these are all things that help you evolve as a spirit.

When a person dies, and their soul departs their body, what form does that spirit or soul take?

Spirit will be able to choose its appearance. If a 101-year old individual dies and wants to be back in the body of --say its prime was at 25--that's how that individual experienced the prime of their life--they feel that they would experience it at 25. That is how they will appear. Again this has so much to do with the evolution of the individual. Oftentimes those who have evolved so quickly in this lifetime spiritually will simply evolve into a form of light or an apparition in a body form at the prime of their life but will choose to only be in a garment of white robes. Because you on earth so need to have a physical description of much, and many times we cannot describe the events that take place clearly enough in your limited experiences.

But an individual who dies--again we will use the example of a 101 year old --will have said I was much happier during this era--this was the prime of my life--and that's how their physical transformation will appear to them and to those who they are being greeted by. Even though there will be those who might be greeting them who did not know them at that time in their life at all but will know that it is them and greet them with a knowingness of love. Those who have achieved a higher evolution in life often just choose to make the earth to spirit transition time a very quick time and do not immediately go into the form of spirit they are once they are established in their life in heaven, but go into, for lack of a better description, angelic form and not find it necessary to go into any past physical form.

Shortly after death, a spirit assumes a form associated with how they appeared in the prime of life. The question I have is--what clothing would this form have and would this clothing selection change later in heaven?

The clothing selection they would have would be the same selection that they were wearing at that time of their life, so if it was someone who had passed over in the 60's and that was their prime of life, they would be dressed in clothes that they were comfortable with at that time. After a period of time, once a soul has moved over to the other side, they lose that human form all together and so it doesn't matter how they appear because they are being perceived in the form of true energy that they really are.

Again we would say to you though that the person that appears in their prime of life is not just what they consider their prime of life but, if they were to appear to several, each would perceive him in what they considered the prime of his life and each one of you probably would be perceiving him in a different vision.

Differences between spirit and soul

What is the difference between a spirit and a soul?

The spirit is the true essence, the true energy of who you are. The soul is like the connection between your spirit and your humanness. And your soul is with you in your human body and when you depart from your human body your soul moves into your spirit and that soul remains with your spirit. So it's like a form of energy from your true spirit into your humanness and is more directly connected to you as a human than as to your spirit in each incarnation.

But a human has a spirit within them as well as a soul?

Yes, and it is like you would be looking at yourself as a human. There are layers of energies and these energies are not often necessarily within the human body but are the energies that will surround your human body connected by your soul.

And when you cross over, what is it that moves from your body into the spirit world?

What happens is, the soul moves into the spirit which is the energy that is within you as well as surrounding you, which is your spirit. That soul moves totally and completely into your spirit after a period of time. In the death process you go through a period where you are still earthbound connected and so your soul itself is still very individually active and your soul continues with this earthbound connection for a period of time and then finally moves into the oneness and completeness of the true essence and spirit that you are. This is when you are released from your earth bond and you become your full spirit self.

And when and if you reincarnate again, do you acquire a different soul or do you have the same soul that enters the human body at birth?

The soul of each incarnation carries the energy of every incarnation but is not necessarily predominant in the soul as it attaches to a new incarnation. For what happens with the soul--it becomes much of the personality and ego of every new incarnation but the residual energy of what you have always been through every lifetime remains within that soul. So, in essence, yes--you are carrying all the energies of each lifetime but they are not very predominant. They're there--they are, as we would help you to understand, a residual energy but they are not predominant. For each incarnation has its own energy, its own personality, its own ego and that's what forms in the soul to help connect to the spirit of your humanness.

What happens to the past personality of a soul that is reincarnated? Is it irretrievably lost--like a slate wiped clean--so that all the love, feelings, experiences and essences that were part of the soul in its previous life are gone forever?

Absolutely not. You as a spirit being carry with you all of your previous life experiences and how those experiences have developed into your current spiritual evolution. Though when you return as a three-dimensional earth being these experiences are not remembered unless you have evolved so much in your spiritual evolution that you are able to do some past life regressions. Many times you have things that are happening to you in your current life which you have no understanding for why it is happening, and it can be a deep-seated carryover from a past life which could go back for many past lives. It is something that you have continued to hold on and have not confronted this experience and therefore it still tends to stick with you even in your spirit life into your three-dimensional human life. But you never lose any of the experiences, any of your actions, any of your thoughts--all of that is combined that makes you one whole spirit.

What is meant by the term "the higher self"?

The higher self is your spirit that continues to live through all three-dimensional lifetimes and is always there. As you leave this lifetime you move into your spirit being that you truly are. You move from your personality into your soul into your true spirit being. Your spirit being itself is always continuously learning and you as a third-dimensional being are helping it continue its growth in spirit. And by that we mean the unconditional love, the unconditional forgiveness, acceptance, knowing that you are perfect in all ways. Your spirit knows this and as you continue to understand and accept the challenges to achieve these levels upon earth, your spirit continues to grow itself.

So the term "the higher self " does not mean one's spirit guide, who is a separate entity?

This is true. Your have many, many other spirits who are around, spirit guides who are teachers or who have become more highly evolved than you are, and they are there. They are your teachers. You can call upon any spirit guide of any level at any time. Sometimes there are spirit guides for very specific reasons. Many times when you think you are calling upon a spirit guide, when you are looking at earth situations, you are really calling upon the earth angels and they are there to help you for what you on earth consider mundane energy help, other-dimensional help. Oftentimes you call upon your angels for protection and many times the protection is needed--more than an angel, a spirit guide is needed. When you call out, either an earth angel or spirit guide are there for you. And oftentimes there are spirit guides there that are more highly evolved for the situation requires a great deal of higher consciousness to be with you at that time. But anytime that you ask for help, you receive that help, even though you are never aware of it. It might not be the help that you think you are receiving at the time that you want, but it is the help you are receiving to help you further evolve and become aware that you can find the answers with the help of angels and spirit guides who are with you at all times.

We will now give you a general insight into what happens to all individuals once they have moved through this tunnel with the assistance of guides and angels, once they have been greeted by loved ones and feel that --oh my gosh, I am continuing-- life is going on-- I am really in life now--but are still extremely excited and we would almost say overwhelmed by all the events that are taking place and by the brightness of the light and the energy vibration that they are moving at. At this time they still see themselves in the body that they had on earth and they see their individual loved ones as they remember them and see them in those bodies they had on earth. They have not yet moved into a true spiritual being yet. Once they have received the greetings from all of their loved ones and have achieved a sense of comfort, events will begin to unfold. We know that this doesn't sound like the order that you would think that they are going to be in but we will try to explain it as best as we can. What will happen to an individual then, after their initial greeting and welcoming to the other side, is they will sort of "whoosh" into another part of the tunnel that is their own private part and will then begin a complete life review of all their experiences on earth in this most past incarnation. This is not done with pain or with emotion. It is done with fact to see what your life experiences did in either helping you to evolve more consciously or putting hindrances in that energy flow and thus not allowing you to move into a more spiritual concept while on earth. You will see how every thought, every action, every experience you had on earth affected you and affected those around you.

The average spirit that dies from, whether it be a mature age on earth, whether it be from accidents, from disease--whatever its form of death other than generally a violent death, whether that violent death be from an accident or from murder--but the general human that dies is also met by loved ones and has a life review. Those that go through life reviews, depending on their experiences as humans, will feel some events much stronger and experience the other individual's point of view with the degree of energy it put into those events as it lived on earth and with the amount of remorse and with the degree that it had asked for forgiveness prior to dying. Many people have events in their lives on earth and pay little or no attention to the effects of what their actions were, where others have a great sense of responsibility for their actions and a great sense of remorse for what those negative actions were prior to crossing over into the spirit world. So that when those individuals who have crossed over into the spirit world have previously gone through a period of asking for forgiveness, understanding their actions, being responsible for their actions and truly feeling remorse, regardless of the degree of their actions--when they cross over and do a life experience, they still will feel with a great deal of energy what their actions were but are released immediately from that.

There are those on earth who feel they have done many terrible things, and carry that within themselves, which really are not terrible actions or destructive actions, but feel very guilty about actions they took or did not take on earth. These individuals again will live through their life review, the degree of what they are feeling, and they will experience it from the individual that they had the experience with. This life review is often the way all spirits are able to be released from their actions and their emotions with their earth life. It is not always a negative experience, either. There are many things that all of you on earth do that are actions of love and compassion and support, that you never even always realized that you affected someone else and you are given the opportunity to experience those as well. And you will see that throughout your most past human life that many times you did far more good than you ever imagined that you did in very small ways that no one even thought of.

When the past life review is conducted, is the person receiving that aware of the other lives that they had besides just their past life at that time?

We would say with our knowledge, no. That what that person is experiencing is that most current past life experiences and that most current past life reviews. What then eventually happens is other incarnate lives you will then become aware of as a spirit and all of those past life experiences connect to the most current past life experience and you are able to see how you have grown from all of the experiences.

How soon after a person dies does their soul become aware of all their past lives?

It is difficult to describe that to you because because in heaven there is no time spans. Again, this is the willingness of the spirit and soul that has crossed over to move into its true spiritual form, and once it loses its earthbound connections and begins its true spirit journey, it then becomes aware of all of its lives and all of its experiences.

Does the Council of Elders participate in the life review which is conducted after crossing over?

There is a Council of Elders present at times--we would say the majority of the time-- with those who have crossed over during the life review. They are not there to judge, they are not there to congratulate, they are just a Council of Elders, wise spirits who are there to help support the new spirit energy as it looks at all of the events that took place in its lifetime and all of the people, regardless of how, whether it was passing on the street or a deep love interest--how all these interactions affected not only the soul spirit that has just crossed over but the soul spirit of every individual that it has come into contact with.

This Council of Elders--obviously there are very many of them--they are always elder spirits who are within your own consciousness level and are there as comfort and with an understanding that they have much more wisdom and power than--say--spirits who would be meeting you as you have shared many past lifetimes within "your group". These are wise spirits of both male and female energies--who have no distinction between being male and female--but who you will perceive as being male or female because you are still soul connected. These are both masculine and feminine energies in heaven. There is no distinction between male and female but because you still have soul connection you preseerve male and female energies.

Again, the individual crossing over for what you on earth call a certain time experience is still seeing itself in experiences in human form and has not yet moved into its complete spiritual energy. The individual crossing over will soon see that the loved ones that have met them while crossing over will generally leave them and go to wherever their place in heaven is. To whatever their spiritual level is is where these loved ones will move off to. The new spirit crossing over does not feel alone at all though. It soon finds that it is connecting with other energies that it has known from many lifetimes who are vibrating at their own consciousness level.

Oftentimes, when a medium is describing to an individual here on earth a spirit on the other side that is trying to communicate with the human that is still on earth, and the human on earth does not know who this spirit is at all and feels very confused, it often is a spirit from a past spirit life who were at the same consciousness level as they were. And though they know them very well in spirit form, they do not know them in human form and so oftentimes that is why a spirit comes across and the human does not know them but the spirit knows them from spirit form. When the new crossing-over spirit's family and loved ones fade away, ...some of them fade away and some continue to be with them because they are at the same spiritual consciousness level. And yet their presence is more in the background for a considerable amount of time because the new spirit crossing over has many phases to move through until it reaches that vibrational level of its true spirit.

When a spirit soul crosses over it is initially given many opportunities to interact with human experiences from earth. Eventually these spirit souls realize they are ready to release from this earth experience and move completely into their spirit soul experience. When this happens, they are released from that lifetime and move into all lifetimes they have experienced. Each spirit soul that crosses over and moves into its full spirit soul energy of all lifetimes, does continue to remain in contact with the energy of all their loved ones from this most current lifetime. They are often there to help loved ones in difficult situations and in joyous times. Though they are not with those loved ones on a continuous basis they are able to at free will choose when to be with those loved ones. When a spirit soul leaves their human body they are often surprised to see themselves looking down upon themselves. This can be under any circumstance of death. Oftentimes when a spirit soul is being mechanically kept bound to earth they are not in their human body at all and would like to be able to communicate to their loved ones to please release them and let them go so that they can move on. The sense of love, of obligation and responsibility, can often keep a loved one bound to earth and not allow it to move freely into its spirit soul life. We so often think we are doing the best to help loved ones but oftentimes are hindering their clear free movement from one life to another.

Once an individual has gone through their life review they are given the opportunity to experience things from earth that they either enjoyed very much and can again have that earth type of experience, whether it be from holding a grandchild, to visiting Disneyland, to airplane soaring, whatever the life experiences were that they enjoyed or they hoped to enjoy. They are then given the opportunity to then do that in heaven. Those experiences that they are having in heaven now do not affect anyone upon earth and their loved ones are not aware, though occasionally, if a loved one is tuned in enough, they can somehow feel the joy of the one who has crossed over. Not understanding what this joy is they somehow can sense a presence of love and joy from the one who has crossed over.

If there were individuals upon earth at any time during this incarnation that an individual would have really liked to have known, they are given an opportunity to meet with that life force energy that they saw. They are allowed to ask permission to be in the presence of that life force energy that was on earth. It is sort of a residual energy and not the actual presence of the spirit that has crossed over, but the residual energy of what that spirit personality and ego was when it was on earth. Because the new individual crossing over still has the earthbound ties, the majority of the time permission is granted to visit with that residual energy and personality of what the one they wanted to meet with on earth was.

There are angels that are more highly evolved than earth angels and oftentimes they can be there to assist a spirit that has crossed over. And oftentimes when there have been multiple deaths from accidents there will be many more angels there to help than at other times. Oftentimes when a new spirit has crossed over and still has its earthbound connections there are angels that are there helping them with their earthbound connections and experiences that are earth-related that a new crossed over spirit would like to experience. And angels are often there to help them almost as an usher-type presence to help assist in whatever this experience is, oftentimes such as your late wife wishing to visit with Walt Disney. That type of visit was assisted by an angel of a higher dimension than those that helped with the earth experiences yet these are still earth-type-related experiences one still has when they initially have crossed over.

As a being leaves their body and their soul and spirit moves forward they are then greeted by their spirit guides along with their loved ones. The spirit guide will stay with the soul who has crossed over for a great deal of time. After it has made its crossing over and is becoming used to its life in heaven, once it leaves its soul and becomes then pure spirit, spirit will then no longer be as connected to it as it has through its journey.

If a human crosses over and has been a spirit for a long time in a spirit family--those angels who helped him while he was on earth--do they help other humans then or are they essentially unemployed?

Angels are always in demand. In terms of your earth words they are never unemployed. They are there and will begin to help new arrivals on earth and are always kept busy helping you earthlings. They do this with much joy and much pleasure. We will find many angels often when circumstances are quite difficult, when angels are called from other sources to come help assist and be there to support that family. Of course, as with any case, it is always the family's choice to acknowledge these angels and their presence and their energy to help support them. Even though these angels are oftentimes not acknowledged on a very open level that does not mean that their presence somehow is not experienced.

What senses does the newly departed soul possess in heaven, senses like sight and sound?

The spirit who has initially crossed over still, as we have said, has many earthbound energy connections and because there is a gradual movement into its final spirit form the visions that one is able to see are visions one chooses to see. You can be in Disneyland, in a garden, or you can be on a fast boat or on an airplane or whatever vision it is, you still have the ability to see in a three-dimensional form as you did on earth. And then you--and when you ask permission to see a spirit that you did not know on earth, but one you felt a real deep connection with or a desire of gratitude toward--you ask permission to be able to, if that spirit would be able to, just acknowledge you and it is done in that manner as you would expect it to be done on earth.

Okay. And, for example, to the extent that vision is an appropriate sense, does somebody have 360 degree vision that they see everything within sight, as opposed to focussing in some direction?

What they see is just exactly what they choose to see, what they ask to envision, and again this is just upon initial death. Please do not expect this is to be the way life in heaven is because, after again a certain period of time as you on earth relate to a certain evolution of your spirit, you then do everything telepathically. You are no longer in what you would consider a three dimensional form and you move about in your spirit life. The mediums will often explain how your loved ones are still connected with you and see your life. This is true, they do, but they do not do this as a full time "occupation"--they do this in a manner that is just another field of energy that they are able to contact with. When the mediums are discussing loved ones and say that they are together with some one it is because they do come together at that time to be able to share that communication, but that does not mean that they are basically all hanging out together in the three-dimensional human form that you know them as on earth.

The next sections deal with transformation experiences which depart significantly in a negative way from those of the average person crossing over.

Those spirits who do not cross over after they have had a physical death on earth are oftentimes spirits who have died from trauma and in anger, such as, for example, the spirit of a man who was very angry, who was a murderer, and who in turn was murdered; the spirit of a woman who was giving birth to a child who died in childbirth and who did not want to leave her family; the spirit of a child who died and didn't want to leave its mother; and spirits who have died in war and in battle.

Given that these sorts of people have remained on earth after physical death, what sorts of things do they do, how do they spend time, what motivates them, what interaction do they have with other such souls or with humans or anything about their continuing existence on the earth plane?

Well, it depends on many different circumstances. If an individual is a singular spirit within an environment, they are often just continuously moving around trying to justify their anger or always searching for themselves. They are souls that are quite incomplete in death as they were on earth. So they are often within an environment trying to still find themselves and will make their presence known many times to the living, thinking that they are still a part of the living, and to continue on their path of fulfilling the needs the anger is driving them through. Oftentimes when there are many spirits in an environment due to occasions of death that for some reasons within that space, within that environment, there is an energy field that seems to collect spirits who do not cross over. These spirits generally do not know or interact with other spirits that are there.

There are other occasions where spirits of like minds, who may have been gangsters, have all been dropped in one location. Oftentimes these spirits are of such like minds and negative energy fields when they were on earth and because they have all been dumped in one area, even though they weren't in their bodies at that time, their spirits all seem to congregate together in that same area. Oftentimes it is, for them, a sense of cameraderie and they don't care to cross over because they are with their buddies and they have no fears or concerns and yet there is still something they know is not quite right and have oftentimes been in such a place for so many years that it just takes a small amount of assistance to help them cross over. Though they have died violently and they have lived violently, they again are with such like minds that they are not in a place of total torment in hell as you would often expect it to be. Then there are those who have been killed in mass murders such as the holocaust or serial killers. These are not souls that hang around together in a mass grave; these are souls that cross over immediately.

These are spirits who held an extremely close connection to earth and when it came time to cross over either could not or would not see the light and the path that was given to them to help direct them over. They were still connected to the earth by anger. Generally speaking that is the main reason a spirit does not continue its crossing over; it is so enveloped in its energy of anger that it cannot release itself or will not release itself for it has not felt that it was able to justify its anger and therefore it did not feel that it had completed what it needed to do on earth. These are extreme cases of people who have been murdered or felt that they had been so deeply hurt. These types of people often cannot let go of their earth bounds because they feel as though they have not been able to have a life of their own, out of blaming everyone else and do not feel that their existence has been their own but lived life through their anger and their embitterness toward others.

How can that spirit eventually ascend to heaven?

There are many ways that this can happen. Oftentimes, the spirits that remain can be assisted by individuals living on earth who have the ability to communicate with them and can help move them along and this is done quite often. Oftentimes, loved ones that have remained alive on earth will then cross over and then the connection that the spirit has been hanging around for will then be stronger and help to bring that spirit soul across then as well. Oftentimes the spirit souls that linger for such a long period of time with the earth connection are spirit souls who have been tormented souls and souls that have not had any type of spiritual consciousness and have lived the darker side of life.

What physical phenomena can be created by such an earthbound spirit while he is on earth?

It is important to understand that oftentimes when earth beings think they are seeing a ghost or a spirit, that is not what they are seeing but will see the residual energy of the personality come forth. This residual energy will create the same kinds of experiences that people think they are having when seeing a spirit. There will often be a change in temperature within a room or near the individual experiencing this other energy. Some spirits will create mischief by moving things, by opening and closing doors and windows, by making disturbing sounds that can be picked up. Footsteps that can be heard yet the spirit soul has no weight or has no sense (in the three-dimensional aspect that you think of) of grabbing hold of a doorknob and turning and twisting. There is an exchange of energies that happens, that does not create these in the three-dimensional sense that you think of on earth. Oftentimes when individuals sense the negative energy of a spirit or soul it is because that soul is as disturbed in its current space and time as it was on earth and will move about with that same type of negative, heavy dark energy. And by those sensitive enough, they can feel and pick up on that.

After such a displaced soul returns to heaven, in what way are its placement and progression affected?

It requires a great deal of added understanding by those who are greeting it, whether they be former human attachments and acquaintances or spirits and angels who are there to help them. Their sense of not understanding the crossing-over process has created quite a confusion within them. They require a lot of individualized angel and spirit support as they are willing to accept this move, the actual crossing-over, into their spirit world and truly letting go of their human dimension.

Oftentimes, this lingering and trying to stay earthbound connected creates a slowing down process once they have crossed over. And their spiritual life and progression appears to be much slower initially and, though it appears to be slower, once they have reconnected with their spirit world their connection becomes deeper than it might have at other times because they have really become aware of living in three different types of dimensions. And once they have totally reconnected with their spirit self they might appear to be slower in their spirit lessons and connecting to their higher consciousness. But as they do connect the connection is always much deeper and has a stronger meaning for them. Again, this is only by choice because they can choose not to move forward into that higher consciousness and still continue to be not as an evolved spirit soul and will return to earth to learn lessons dramatically again.

Is there a technical name for the "image" of a deceased person newly appearing in a painting or photo after their death?

Again, as we have said many times before, you on earth have to have everything identified by a name, to make it, to validate it. What you often see when you see an image of one who has recently crossed over is the essence of that person being with you at that time. I guess if you wanted a name the most important thing we would say it's the "essence" of an individual earth energy coming to visit, to see what's happening, feeling drawn by the love or by the energy that is attracting it from all those within the room. Even if it is not being drawn by complete love, if there are energies of anger and resentment it will come through in its essence form to participate in a way that no one is aware of.

And would that essence sometimes appear as if it were in a painting or a photograph?

It can appear in any form or with any manner. It does not necessarily have to be as you are asking but it can be done in such a way.

Are there special spirits who are concerned with bringing ghosts into the spirit world?

We are not sure what you mean by that. Could you clarify that please?

If, for example, there is an earthbound ghost who has not gone into the spirit world--are there special spirits whose job is to try to convince those ghosts that they ought to pass into heaven and become spirit only?

Yes, and many times the assistance of one ghost moving into the full dimension of the spirit world is there through humans who are still living in the three-dimensional world, as well as knowing and accepting other dimensions. And they are often a guide as well in helping move this ghost, who is caught between two worlds, into the spirit world. There are times when just the "spirit cop" comes and there are many times there are earthly beings who will help as well.

What is the difference between energy that may be found at a location such as Gettysburg and spirits or ghosts that may be there?

We will first speak to the spirit or ghost that one would see there. The spirit or ghost is the actual energy of the individual who has not crossed over yet. It has not moved into its afterlife. It is generally an energy that is confused, particularly in an environment where there has been brutality and fighting and extreme cases of death. Those are usually on earth we would refer to the ghost of an individual and it is has not crossed over. There are ghosts or spirits who will come to earth generally to a place that they love. These are spirits or ghosts, as you call them, who have crossed over but occasionally for one reason or another will come just back for a visit. These are generally--this is a subject we would like to go into in much more detail at a later time--but for this purpose right now--in areas where there has been tragic death you will see the ghosts and spirits of individuals who have not crossed over, the residual experience of energy that one sees such as the whole event taking place, such as Gettysburg, or --the energies of so many peoples in such distress remains oftentimes at a location of the time of departure.

In cases of murder, in cases of war, in cases of tragic death--many times the residual energy of the actual event will remain there and it is just an energy of the events that took place and apparently continue to take place by those who have the abilities to feel the energies there. We would say to that that oftentimes hauntings get confused by residual energies and again there is a difference of a haunting and a residual energy. Generally speaking, a haunting is where a spirit who has not crossed over is in quite a state of confusion and usually creates quite a disturbance in the area that it is in whereas the residual energy is often felt but does not purposely create a disturbance. It is just a matter of fact that such an experience took place there.

Those troubled souls who are living on earth who choose to end their problems much too soon in life through suicide obviously have a very dark energy of their own they have created. Now, there are many different reasons for suicide. The first we would say is that this individual's connection with its spirit self is so blocked with negative energy that they have shut down from their spirit self. This individual is in such pain and is so confused and the wall of pain and confusion has built so strongly around him or her that the individual has closed down so much they cannot allow any love into their life.

By doing this they are looking at such a helpless and hopeless feeling, feeling of being totally alienated from the entire universe, feeling no sense of love whatsoever. When they commit this act of suicide they do not go to hell as many people say they do, but they are in a place darker than in the place of an individual crossing over for any other reason. For this is their place of darkness that they have created. These individual souls are initially met by angels and guides and they can see the brightness and the light and the love of these guides coming through to them. This light and this love does permeate the life of the individual who committed suicide so that they are not left into a complete hole of darkness though they are in a dim world compared to where they would have been under other circumstances. They are met by loved ones who have crossed over who are very glad to see them.

Those individual who cross over from suicide are eventually greeted by loved ones so that they are not living in this place of fear. Unfortunately, their interaction with these loved ones is not as prolonged--though again, time is not any essence whatsoever when crossing over--but they are not given the opportunity at this time to move immediately into this loving family environment. They are greeted by loved ones and supported and they have been released from the majority of the torment they were experiencing upon earth. Oftentimes their immediate sense of guilt of what they have done to themselves and to their loved ones retains them in a place such as a continuation of a school-room that you might relate to as in heaven. They are so looking for forgiveness from their loved ones for what they have done to them, not what they have done to themselves, but what they have done to their loved ones that their sense of guilt is again as strong as their fears that sent them to commit suicide. Their sense of guilt often prevents them from moving on for what we on earth would consider a great length of time. As they continue their spirit life, they are given opportunities to look back at their earth life they had just ended. They are given opportunities to then be open to see the love and caring of the ones that they left behind had for them. Their lack of sense of any right to have love in their life is what drove them to commit suicide to begin with.

So as they look back upon earth on the life they had on what brought them there, whether it was shame or guilt or fear or even anger, they see how their death affects all of those surrounding them. Oftentimes those left on earth play a role in helping an individual move forward so that they can connect again with their level of spirit energy not associated with their having committed suicide. These spirits who have committed suicide are given opportunity after opportunity to release what has brought them there so that they can move forward into their normal spirit life again. Until they find that they can release what brought them there and know that all they have to do is say--yes, I am willing to let go, I am willing to feel my rightful place that I didn't experience on earth but can move back into in Heaven. It is their free choice. They are oftentimes unable to accept that all they have to do is simply say yes and move forward, that they are restrained within the feelings and emotions that took them to commit suicide and do not allow themselves to move forward even in a spiritual world.

A majority of the time all spirits who have committed suicide move into their rightful place in the spirit world for they are able to see how much love is sent to them, both from those on earth and from those spirits who have come before them who are willing to say, yes I deserve this. Regardless of what they did, they are able then to move into their rightful journey of their spirit self. For in this place where they initially come after having committed suicide they are immediately given the opportunity to see the love and agree that they deserve this love and be willing to move into it. They are given free choice and oftentimes the burdens that they felt upon earth are so strong that they are seeking the freedom from guilt, from the forgiveness of the loved ones on earth. They move forward once they are able to agree that they do not need to continue to carry the burden of what brought them to heaven before their designated time. We would not agree with many spirit mediums on earth who say that those who commit suicide move into, shall we say, their place of origination in heaven immediately unless they have immediately allowed themselves to be released from what brought them there. Heaven gives you choices the same as earth does. Those who remain in this place they have come to from suicide are many times souls who just cannot accept they have the choice and the responsibility as spirits as well as humans to move forward and therefore their growth spiritually remains where it is.

They eventually come to a place where there is love and there is forgiveness but they choose not to move beyond the place where they are and are souls that no longer move forward because that is their choice. This generally does not happen but all souls are given the choice whether to move forward or not. If they remain in this state of not choosing to move forward they no longer are an energy that is in which you on earth would call this holding cell of suicidal individuals but move forward into a group of spirit souls who are at the level of consciousness they are.

There comes a time then when you make the choice to move forward that you honestly look at yourself and forgive yourself and give yourself the love and the forgiveness. And once this happens you are able to move to the place in heaven where you would have been at the time of that evolution of your spirit from earth. This does not mean that you would be at the place that you might have come into heaven at had you continued that lifetime but at about the consciousness level of where you would have been had you not been so fully attached to the events that were taking place in life that pushed you to commit suicide.

You on earth play a very big role in being able to help those on the other side no matter how they cross over, no matter what the circumstances are, and you can think of any circumstance. But you on earth are able to help them cross over and to help them to move forward by the love and the forgiveness and releasing of them. Your role on earth plays many times an important role for the ones that have crossed over.

The next transformation we would discuss would be those who by terms of you on earth have committed many evil deeds on earth and they too are met by loved ones initially. When anyone crosses over, they are always met with a sense of someone being there. Rarely do individuals cross over into emptiness or a blankness or a place of less than being accepted into the spirit world. Again though, they will feel after being there a very brief period of time and going through the life transformation, their energy is almost "swooshed" into a place that is a consciousness of where those who have committed evil are at. Oftentimes those spirits who maybe did not necessarily commit violent evil acts but were negative and destructive and extremely manipulative to all those around them, they also go to this area that is what we would say is evil. Now, we are talking of those extreme emotional energies that were on earth. There are many different levels of what you on earth would call psychological evil events. And we are looking at those extreme individuals who did not necessarily commit any violent acts but were still destructive in their own negative ways.

So in this place in heaven where evil-doers go, whether they are evil in violent physical acts, or in other destructive demeaning energies, many times they go to similar energies in heaven. They often relive the events that they did in a much deeper, in a manner much more felt, than just in the life review--for it is an extended period and each spirit will look at every person that they had hurt and it will be the actual victim and the victims' families. And they will relive these experiences over many times until they get what it was and why it was they did what they did. And regardless of the fact that if they get the lessons that they did for--let's say--murdering one individual, they will still go through each process of their transgressions until they have completed all of those life experiences in the most recent earth life they have lived. They have a choice then to ask for forgiveness from each of those individuals and to ask for forgiveness from their higher self and God and to give and to be willing to accept the forgiveness themselves.

We do not call this place hell--many of you on earth would call it hell--but again it is giving the spirit soul an opportunity to feel what its actions were to those on earth, to relive them on an individual personal basis and to feel all the feelings that their victims and family felt and to see how those actions affected each and every individual around them, both their families and their victims' families and friends. After this reexperiencing of its human life events, this spirit is also given the opportunity to move into its home family, if you care to call it that, in its spirit world. It can only do this through many ways and that is by asking the forgiveness from the families in spirit it was so destructive to and by eventually knowing that and accepting the forgiveness from God and accepting the forgiveness from themselves.

In both cases of individuals who have committed evil acts and those individuals who have committed suicide, they are not in a space where they have a spiritual experience with other spirits. Though they can feel the presence of others around them within the environment they are in, they have no actual contact with these spirits. They also, once they are willing to accept the forgiveness from others and themselves and know that God is always forgiving, realize that when they agree to move into their original spiritual home, that when they do reincarnate in life again that there will be as you on earth oftentimes call a karmic energy that will follow them in their new earth life.

There are those though who have been so evil, and so destructive, that it seems that their life back in the spirit world will be in this place for an infinite amount of time. For there are also those who will never have remorse or ask to be forgiven, who cannot break the earthbound ties and emotions, those energies that brought them to such a destructive place that they cannot release themselves from that. This is not a punishment to them. This is their choice for not being able or willing to let go of those destructive energies that created all of its experiences on earth. For many times it can never concede to the fact that it did something wrong as a human, and therefore has no need to ask for forgiveness or to feel any remorse for any of their human actions. This is a place then where these spirits will remain indefinitely and will always feel the constant torment of what drove them to their actions on earth. You on earth might call this a hell or purgatory. Those in the spirit world again say it is just giving the spirit the opportunity to make choices and move forward and so therefore it is the spirit itself that is responsible for where it will continue its existence.

For people who cross over, having either commited suicide or having committed evil acts while on earth and thus go into separate areas of heaven, what is the role of angels and spirit guides in those circumstances?

As with any being that crosses over, they are initially met with higher evolved forms of energy to help make the transition though we would say they find their transition to be a much darker event than those who are more--who have not walked more on the dark side of earth. We will say that anyone who makes their transition is always greeted by a form of higher energy than they ever experienced before but that does not mean that they are making their transition in what would be the most joyous experience as others.

As we have said before, anyone who is crossing over, regardless of what their earth circumstances were, and what their level of of spirit consciousness was, are all greeted by those who they have known in their most recent past life--in the past life they are most recently departing from. They then can experience a separation from those loved ones for everyone for a period of time as they go through their own life review and begin their journey into their spirit life. When one makes the crossing over into their spirit life, how they reunite with their spirit family not only has to do with what their actions on earth were and what their connection and their spiritual growth and evolution of their spiritual consciousness on earth was but also has a great deal to do with how they thought and felt about themselves in that human life.

You could take an individual who was a very good, loving, giving, compassionate person on earth in their actions and their words in their contribution to human life but within themselves they felt a great emptiness, a great sense of inadequacy and, as you on earth would say, low self esteem and confidence. Though, by the standards of many many individuals, they led almost a saintly life but within themselves they were continuously tormented by not being adequate and good enough. Those individuals put themselves through a much slower pace of returning to the spirit family than someone who again, regardless of what their actions on earth were, come across having a sense of self worth and self esteem and confidence and that is regardless of what their actions and deeds on earth were. We have already discussed those individuals that make their crossing over who have been violent and terribly destructive on earth and what happens to them. Those who cross over with this lack of inner self love move into a place where they are tenderly helped to open up to seeing what lesson on earth this time that did not get completed.

Many people think that by helping others in being compassionate and being the good person is what the lesson on life on earth is all about and do live those kinds of life but have not completed that full cycle of the lesson and that is learning to love the inner self. These people have done many good things and come back to their spirit life but all along have realized that there has been an empty hole in them and they have not been able to understand what that emptiness is. So when they come back to their spirit life they are greeted by many loved ones. They are greeted not only by a life review of what their actions were but they are greeted with special spirit guides--angel guides--mainly at this time still angel guides more than spirit guides because the connection is still very earthbound.

And they are gently taught to see that strong lesson of self love that they did not come to know and understand in this lifetime for that is probably one of the most important lessons on earth as we have mentioned before--this is self-love. For by not having the self love many times what you do for others is hollow and you feel that hollowness because you are able to give to others and not to yourself. This is a picture generally when you make your transition into your spirit life that you are able to see with a lot of love and help from those on the other side that have come to be your so-to-speak "guidance counsellors".

What are the various circumstances which lead to a spirit being placed in a healing environment after crossing over, perhaps for an extended period before locating in its proper family grouping?

This can be the result of a suicide, this can be the result of an individual who has lived on the extremely dark side of life and committed strong transgressions against other beings.

How does a mental disease in human life affect the spirit after its crossing over?

As with other human low physical energy levels, once a human crosses over they no longer carry that low energy level of mental or physical or emotional attachment with them, or human disforming attachment, with them into the spirit world. There are often souls who have agreed to reincarnate with an extreme disformity or handicap who are actually highly evolved souls but know that they are crossing over and reincarnating into that experience to not only to help them evolve higher spiritually themselves but as a strong teacher for those upon earth.

Can spirits be "contaminated" or otherwise imprinted by a life within certain types of human bodies?

We're not sure we understand what you are asking. Would you please rephrase that?

In other words, is the spirit after crossing over affected by the kinds of body it may have lived on or events or diseases that were associated with their life on earth? Does this carry over into the spirit world?

As we have said before, those who have committed suicide do carry over the experience oftentimes of what happened to them to bring them to shorten their earth journeys. But those who have other physical ailments and handicaps do not experience those on the other side. Human disabilities and illnesses leave the spirit and stay on earth. They do not follow or move into the spirit world. Often those who have been blind know as they make their transition, they immediately see. Those those have been deaf immediately hear. Those who have been totally incapacitated and bedridden find they are up and moving about as much as, if not more, than any other spiritit encounters.

You have indicated that what your consciousness is is how you will perceive the afterlife and your death experience from earth. What is consciousness in this context?

Consciousness in this context deals with what actions and what level of energy you are on in your most current lifetime. You can have many people who think of murdering someone as a terrible event and yet if you are the murderer your consciousness can only fit into that realm because that's where your energy was flowing from. So you can take a mother of several children and take her consciousness and her consciousness is what she thinks and what the consciousness of basically every human is is what they have as their moral values, what do they relate their moral and eithical values to. Someone who is a murderer obviously has far less moral and ethical values than the mother of many children. So the consciousness that we are talking about is where the individual is coming from in his thoughts of himself and the rest of the world.

There are many preachers who are very good at what they do but there are many who use their mission to enhance their own lifestyles. So we might see in an outward appearance a consciousnes of an individual mother, minister, killer, whatever they have set up for themselves, and they know why it is there but it is not something that others would know, such as the minister who has worked very hard to achieve power and let's say television--to be well known on your media circuits. And yet behind his initial impact of reaching out as a minister he is also looking for--he has another conscious level inside of himself who is seeking recognition, who is seeking rewards and benefits that as he moves forward is brought into his life. A mother with many children has many, many thoughts in her mind. They are all having to do with showing and helping their loved ones--their small children--to have a high moral and ethical consciousness from the very beginning. So that mother's goal is not just her own consciousness but to help raise the consciousness of the children she has.

And when any of these examples cross over they take this consciousness with them for an initial period in the spirit world?

This is very much true because as you move through a lifetime, the average individual on your earth sees their consciousness move considerably from what it was as a child, as a teenager, as a young adult, to becoming a senior individual who has much different thoughts than when that individual was out in the work force. So you have a change of consciousness almost consistently if you are willing to grow and move into that.

And this earth consciousness after one crosses over is gradually replaced by the reality of the spirit world as opposed to the consciousness that was brought over from earth existence?

This is very much so. The consciousness we are talking about is your earth consciousness. You do not live in your higher self consciousness in current lifetimes. You often will get a glimpse of that but you don't normally understand it. So, when you die, by the way, the consciousness that you have, you've manifested in your own thoughts, whatever those thoughts of death are that you have come in connection with in your lifetime. That will be the type of crossing over experience you will have. If you have believed in hell and brimstone when you cross over you are going to meet your loved ones and then you are going to for some period of time experience what you think death is--hell and brimstone. . But your hell would be experiencing everything wrong that you did to everyone else and to see what they feel and you then, after what you on earth call a period of time, will be given the opportunity to return to your spirit consciousness. Spirit consciousness is all that is real. It is your closeness to your higher self and that is what is always there.

Those individuals who have a concept of death as being nothing will experience their crossing over as being nothing. They will not be aware that all of these teachers and guides and angels are with them. They will not be aware that all these loved ones are there with them and that they are in this incredible tunnel of light and love and freedom. They have brought with them a consciousness that death will be nothing and for a period of time that is exactly what they will experience: This incredible void of nothing--far lonelier, far emptier, far more beseeching to understand what there is more than they have ever experienced before. They will be left with this agonizing yearning inside of them as a spirit for a period of time because that's what their consciousness was and that's what they experienced. But they do not remain in this nothingness for long for the power of love shines through to them from all their loved ones, angels, and spirit guides to greet and welcome them to their spirit life.

Events when individuals believe they are going to "hell"

Those who had a vision that they were going to go "to hell" have many different versions of what hell could mean to them. There will be those who have a typical vision of what hell is, and that is what they will experience. There are those who will think hell was certain events or circumstances in their life and that is what they will experience for a period of time. This is not something that lasts for any great deal of time because spirit will come to those and those experiences and give them the choice to see that they can move out of those experiences and that is not what life after life is all about. That is not what they have to look into for infinity--they are able to move and experience their loved ones, see that they are there and around them and open into the light of love. It's as if butterflies were emerging--and that is somewhat what happens to souls with those concepts of heaven and hell and nothingness at the time of death.

Are there ever cases where a spirit has been reincarnated before it has died in a previous life and arrived in heaven?

With our knowledge no. We don't have all of the knowledge but as far as we know, no, that is not the case. As on earth, no one energy can occupy two spaces at one time. And so a spirit, though there is a residual energy left in heaven to greet those who come to earth because that is what you are expecting, it is not really the spirit itself that is there. And we do not believe that an individual who has died can be in heaven and in a body at the same time. Is that what you are suggesting?

Or in a second body while it's apparently still alive in its soon-to-die body.

We do not believe this is the case at all. As your spirit guides we see that generally speaking a soul does not immediately incarnate and especially not two at one time.